Many Sudbury hockey fans will recall the Little NHL Tournaments of 10 to 15 years ago that saw hundreds of indigenous families from across Ontario converge upon the Nickel City each spring.

But for as much as these fans might “know” of the Little NHL Tournament, there is not much chance they would recognize the current incarnation of the event that now is centered in Markham but explodes all over the GTA.

With more than 270 teams and almost 750 scheduled games, the event has grown in leaps and bounds.

Few enjoy a better perspective on that growth than Gerard Peltier, a participant in his youth as a player, transitioning to the coaching ranks as sons Jessie, Kieran, Bo and Evan all competed, and now coming full circle as the Director of Hockey Operations for the tournament for the past four years.

“I played in the first year of the tournament,” said Peltier, just a nine year-old relative neophyte to more competitive hockey in 1971, calling Wikwemikong home at that time and travelling to Little Current for that inaugural set of contests. “I don’t know how many teams were in - but I remember it feeling really big.”

“I could never have fathomed this,” said Peltier on Thursday afternoon, stationed at the beehive of activity that was the Angus Glen Sports Complex this week. “To get from where we were to where we are now is unbelievable.”

His current role is one that he undertook after reaching out to the likes of Chico Ralf and Marian Jocko, folks who have been Little NHL mainstays for years. “My job is making sure the games happen on the ice: organizing the officials, timekeepers, all of the volunteers who work with the coaches and managers,” said Peltier.

And for as much as he stressed his appreciation for each and every one of those key cogs in the wheel, Peltier believes the true magic lies in the people in a much, much larger sense. “If you were here on Sunday or Monday, watching the nine and ten year olds play, with 400 or 500 people in the stands, and you get to meet families and friends that you’ve met over the years, there is such a sense of community.”

Philadelphia Flyers' great and long-time resident of Manitoulin Island Reggie Leach is more than happy to simply lend a recognizable name and face to this important event (as did Ted Nolan and Stan Jonathan and others). He might not wade knee-deep into the organizational aspect of this massive undertaking, but there is no doubt in his mind as to just how much this means to so many young indigenous hockey players.

“I was a guest of the Little NHL three times before I moved to the Island (Manitoulin) 19 years ago,” said Leach, a veteran of 934 games in the greatest league in the world, winning a Stanley Cup with the Flyers in 1975 and capturing the Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP one year later.

“I’ve been here a long time - and this is one of the best youth hockey tournaments in Canada,” he continued. “It’s just a wonderful, wonderful week to be here with all of the parents, the grandmothers and grandfathers and all of the boys and girls.”

“I’m really proud of the way they run it.”

Born in Riverton (MB), some 90 minutes north of Winnipeg, Leach appreciates the fact that many in his culture have to travel much, much further in search of any kind of youth hockey competition.

“A lot of our first nation communities are isolated and don’t always have the chance to come out to big tournaments,” he said. “This is an outing for those families.”

Truth be told, the Little NHL Tournament is an outing that is circled on the calendar every year, even for those athletes who come from families who are immersed in traditional Hockey Canada settings in larger centres.

Eighteen year-old netminder Kaitlyn Earl is a familiar name for those who have followed the SMHA ranks in recent years, frequently donning the sweater of the Wolves, including with the U16 AAA squad two years ago. This past winter, Earl was with the North York U22 Storm and while she was thrilled with her experience away from home in 2025-2026, there was no question where she would be strapping on the pads during the week of the March break.

“I started off with the Stingers for seven years as a player - I don’t remember which first nation - but then switched to goalie just as our first nation (Wahnapitae) put together a Little NHL team,” she explained. “I’ve been playing with them for about five years now.”

The Wahnapitae Flying Cranes, a boys entry which welcomed Kaitlyn between the pipes, captured the Division B competitive banner on Thursday - and while her most recent hockey ventures have typically involved higher level girls hockey, the transition back to the boys was made easier, given her background.

“I definitely think it’s a faster paced game for sure, but it wasn’t that hard to adjust because I had played with the boys most of my life - I was already used to tracking the puck from the boys,” she said.

Earl shared the Wahnapitae dressing room with four of her cousins, but also teens from across the province (three players were down from Thunder Bay) - yet all linked together through this once a year gathering.

“We’ve all known each other since the Flying Cranes first started,” she said. “We’ve grown as individuals and collectively as teammates. I think our relationships with each other are on point, which makes playing together easy.”